What was the Winter Soldier Investigation?
In 1971 more than a hundred Vietnam War veterans from around the United States gathered at a Howard Johnson hotel in Detroit, Michigan to testify about their experiences in Vietnam. “Winter Soldier” was a reference to Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis,” written to bolster commitment and spirit among soldiers and civilians during the Revolutionary War. Testimony was given unit by unit starting with the First and Third Marine Divisions. During the Winter Soldier Investigation, more than 100 veterans recounted in detail atrocities committed in Vietnam by themselves or observed first-hand. The transcript of the Winter Soldier Investigation was read into the Congressional Record. (Hunt, 55-72; Nicosia, 84-93; Wells, 473-74). The complete transcript can be read online at http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Winter_Soldier/WS_entry.html.
